Renewables.org Gift Cards

The gift of climate impact, that pays back in cash.

5.0•3 reviews•

156 followers

The gift of climate impact, that pays back in cash.

5.0•3 reviews•

156 followers

•

•

Renewables.org, the solar investing non-profit, has released a $25 gift card. In seconds, send an investment in Global South solar to the friends and family. They'll be reminded of your gift with every monthly repayment as Panels generate and sell electricity.

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Launch tags:Fintech•Charity & Giving•Climate Tech

Launch Team

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Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

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Renewables.org, the online solar investing non-profit, allows anyone to invest in operating solar panels in the Global South and get paid back as they generate and sell electricity to the grid. We recently launched a gift card product that allows you to 'give the gift of climate impact' by sending solar investments to friends and family. In the Global South, energy needs are outpacing those of developed nations - and their power grids are more carbon intensive. Without action, emissions will continue to grow. In developed markets like the U.S., a vibrant finance ecosystem ensures that money is available to build new solar projects. But in the Global South, lack of funding is the main barrier to new solar project construction. Renewables.org works with Global South solar developers who build some of the world's highest-impact solar projects. When you invest with Renewables.org (or buy a gift card) your money is placed into the Renewables Fund. Cash from this fund is lent to our partners, enabling them to build solar where it does the most good. As the solar projects generate and sell electricity, the revenue earned enables the Renewables Fund to pay you back. You can withdraw repayments or reinvest them — as our community grows, we're able to accelerate solar deployment where it's needed most. We pay you back the full amount of your purchase over five years, it's like a 0% interest loan that creates five times the climate impact of a typical US solar investment. I am building Renewables.org with co-founder Premal Shah, who is known for cofounding Kiva.org, the popular micro-finance non-profit. Like Kiva, Renewables.org seeks to catalyze an underserved finance vertical by engaging a community of everyday altruists by making philanthropy simple and transparent. With your help, Renewables.org will accelerate the transition to solar energy across the Global South.

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

Thanks Shivam, it means a lot!

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3yr ago

Since you are an NGO how do you cover the costs of your operations? Do you take a cut on the returns?

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

@jc_jung_jcj360_ Hey JC, thanks for the question. In our early stages, we are operating via donations from foundations such as TrueVentures.org. Right now we are on a shoestring, but we plan to raise a moderately sized operating budget next quarter. In the long run, our model is simple — we are borrowing money from investors like you and paying back at 0%, lending money to solar developers in the Global South at ~5-10%, and using the spread to pay for customer acquisition, product development, and other activities that support our non-profit mission. Feel free to check out our pitch deck to learn more here: https://docs.google.com/presenta...

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

@jc_jung_jcj360_ I actually took some time to answer this question as an FAQ on our site. Check it out here: https://www.renewables.org/faqs/...

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3yr ago

@jc_jung_jcj360_ @lassor This FAQ is well explained and detailed nice work Renewables.org team.

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3yr ago

Fantastic product, I look forward to its massive expansion. One question for @lassor : people are used to spending gift cards. This one, on the other hand, gets invested. Kiva managed to educate their users of this model, after many years. Do you foresee any challenges in convincing gift card recipients to return to the platform to re-invest the funds they received? What else will they get along the way, besides the dashboard update?

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

Thanks for the question, @ovi_hentea. What inspired me to work on this project in the first place is the passion I saw so many homeowners have for apps that came with their residential rooftop solar. Even though the apps are hard to use and serve no real purpose, so many homeowners I talked to were hooked, checking in on their panels several times a week or even several times a day. With Renewables, we plan to create beautiful monitoring software with amazing information graphics — but also leverage social features (like an impact leaderboard) and features that make the experience more rewarding (like badges and rewards). Finally, I want to bring to life what your choice to invest on Renewables.org means for stakeholders on the ground with journalistic content. Kiva has incredible profiles of borrowers for every single loan they make which lends find really compelling. In contrast, Renewables will focus on higher quality, long form content for broadcast distribution. For now, our MVP allows you to see a basic sketch and foundation of these features, but already many of our investors have made follow on investments. I think as we grow from a 2-person startup to a more mature organization, we'll be able to make the offering irresistible.

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3yr ago

Hey Lassor, This is a great gift idea, launched at the right time. As a gift-giver, am I able to see the impact of my giftee’s investment and where it goes?

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

@sadya Thats a great idea Smruti — for now, you will not be able to see the activity in your gift card recipients account. I do very much want to add social features that could include the type of attribution idea you brought up. That would be really exciting.

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3yr ago

A hearty congrats Renewables team! An awesome way to have a lasting impact without "paying extra" - and as you note, less stuff and more renewables is the gift that keeps giving! One question: for every $1 of gift card value, how much CO2 is reduced? @lassor @premal

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

@premal @schandra_dyme Great question Sunil. We can actually give you a fairly accurate prediction using our investment criteria, a metric we call the Impact Multiplier. Over five years, a $1 investment would help prevent about 9.65 Kg of carbon emissions. The math goes like this: $1 installs 1.5-2 watts, each watt gets an average of about 1900 hours of peak sunshine per year, generating 3-4 kwh of carbon free electricity. The grids our sites operate on typically emit between 500-800 grams of CO2 per kwh generated. When we weight the 1 dollar investment across our entire portfolio, the figure comes to 9.65 Kg over five years (although results may very in individual sites). You can learn more about our Impact Multiplier methodology, which is open source, here: https://www.renewables.org/faqs/...

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3yr ago

What do you do with balances left in our accounts? Can we reinvest in smaller increments than $25? Will you share financial reports of renewables.org finances regularly?

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

@russell_h1 Thanks for the question. To question 1, your account balance is yours to either withdraw or reinvest as you please. If you don't have $25 worth of wallet balance, you can subsidize a purchase of a new Panel with the balance you do have. However, we do not sell Panels in increments. To question 2, we will be fully transparent. Of course we will do the reporting and disclosures our non-profit status requires, but we plan on going above and beyond. For example, you can see our full investment methodology and how each solar project in our portfolio meets it here: https://www.renewables.org/faqs/...

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3yr ago

GitPrime

It was simple to create a nice gift of something that mattered. I don't need more things in my life. Giving solar helps others. It felt great.

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3yr ago

Renewables.org Gift Cards

Maker

@johnwitchel we took off a few weeks ago on the 'anti-consumerism' subreddit for this exact reason. Whether your gift card recipient is a minimalist who hates physical products or someone who is hard to shop to because they already have it all, Renewables.org Global South solar investments are a great gift.

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3yr ago

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